


Just One More Time

by makeawishonoursorrylittlehearts



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood (not a lot), Fluff, Hospitals, M/M, Nurses, cant someone give victor a break, defensive yurio, he wants to fight someone 24/7 here, i hate the ending but it was written at 1 am, injuries, man this took way too long, yakov probably gained another bald spot from this sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-08
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-09-15 18:07:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9249626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makeawishonoursorrylittlehearts/pseuds/makeawishonoursorrylittlehearts
Summary: He sees Yuri skating, free, and he sees him jump, but then Yuri's falling and there's blood everywhere. It fills up the entire rink, it just won't stop coming, and Victor can't breathe. His feet seem tied to the ice, his skates weighing him down. Yuri isn't moving, and Victor tries all he can to get to Yuri, but nothing happens. Victor screams, but nothing changes. The blood makes his eyes sting, and he closes them, but suddenly they won't open. Victor is spiralling down, and all at once there is a hand on his shoulder and a head on his other and -





	

**Author's Note:**

> russian translations- (according to google translate)  
> Prosti - sorry  
> moya lyubov - my love (if you've ever read one victuri fanfic you'll know this)  
> japanese -  
> gomen - sorry  
> daikirai - i hate you  
> baka - idiot

"How..." Breathe in, breathe out. "How much longer until we can... we can stop?" Yuri's _exhausted_. He feels like his legs won't hold up for much longer, and his face is red and flushed.

"Hm... how long have we been practicing for?" Victor is, of course, completely calm and collected, although he hasn't been doing half as much work as Yuri. Victor's training with Yakov is in the afternoon, giving him time to coach Yuri in the morning.

"Victor! _You're_ the coach here, _you_ should know!" Yuri sighs in exasperation.

"Ah, _gomen_ _gomen_." Victor says with a laugh.

Yuri narrows his eyes at Victor. "You're doing it again, love." Victor pouts and looks at Yuri from under his lashes.

Yuri snorts. "God, why did I even agree to come here with you?" Victor has taken up the habit of slipping Japanese words into his speech, just to mess with Yuri. Yuri still has one over Victor though - he _is_ fluent in the language, even though Victor's not bad.

Victor brings his hand up to Yuri's and strokes his thumb over the back of Yuri's hand in lieu of an explanation. As usual, Yuri's cheeks go bright pink and he _swears_ his heart is going impossibly fast.

"That's why, _moya lyubov_." Victor smirks at Yuri, and pushes him away - back to the ice. "We still have about half an hour. Not much longer now."

Yuri shakes his head and turns to skate to the middle of the rink. He can hear Victor's blades cutting through the ice, and spins around to see what he's doing.

"Okay, I thought we'd focus on jumps this last half hour." Victor watches Yuri's face light up. He's wanted to do jumps for the _longest_ time, and a plus is that he gets to watch Victor actually _show_ _him_ the jumps. Yuri's ecstatic. "I know, aren't I good to you? Let's start with doubles - hey don't pull that face, you've got to warm up - and then triples, then if we have time, quads. Okay?" Victor fails to hide his amusement as Yuri's face falls when he announces they will be practicing doubles.

" _I guess_." Yuri's sulking. Just a bit.

"Yuri, if you sulk, I'll make you do the dishes tonight - you know what happened last time." Victor's only sort of teasing. He did actually make Yuri help him last time Yuri complained about working on his free leg for so long.

Hearing this, Yuri adds more animation to his face and turns back to Victor. " _Daikirai, baka_." He throws a grin Victor's way before standing back to let Victor jump.

"Oy! What did you say?" Victor knows more... _simple_ and less offensive Japanese to what Yuri just said.

"Just shut up old man and jump." Yuri sticks his tongue out at Victor. "You're wasting our time."

"Only because of you! Now-"

"Victor!" Yuri pulls an exasperated face and throws his arms up. "Come on..."

Victor only laughs and leans his weight to his left leg. "Do a few doubles, let me see."

Yuri nods and pushes off his left skate to begin gaining momentum for the jumps. He does a lap around the rink, the icy air making his eyes water before focusing his eyes on the door to the ice and then...

 _There_! He's flying, and it's the best feeling in the world, and then suddenly a hitting sound reaches his ear and Yuri's landed, one leg behind him, and he's completed a double loop.

Still skating, Yuri only goes a few meters forwards before he is doing a double toe loop, double salchow combination. He'll never get tired of the feeling of doing a jump, it feels like flying and being weightless. Yuri's stomach always lurches but it's not a _bad_ feeling. Double jumps are easy enough that Yuri could probably do one in his sleep, and that's what's so nice about them. Yuri is able to do many double jumps at a time without becoming fatigued, which gives a refreshing change from the stress of quads and triples.

Yuri does a double loop, flip, and lutz before he stops to take a proper breather. His stamina is good, so Yuri's not _tired_ , but he's definitely out of breath.

Victor claps. "Good, Yuri! Your doubles are fine. We don't need to worry about them. Focus more on your landing leg, though. It's often completely straight,  
but apart from that your doubles are great!" Victor is smiling. His happiness widens Yuri's chances slightly, he supposes.

Yuri grins at Victor. "Okay. Can't we skip triples? We've only got fifteen minutes left, and the doubles have counted for my warm up. I really want to try quads." Victor doesn't seem convinced, glancing between the clock and Yuri.

Yuri realises Victor will need some convincing. Luckily, Yuri finds it very easy to convince Victor to do almost anything. Quite helpful, really.

Yuri glides over to Victor silently, and drapes his arms around Victor's shoulders. Yuri brings his lips to meet Victor's, before mumbling against them,

"Please?" Yuri can feel Victor stiffen slightly with surprise, then he melts into Yuri and mumbles back.

"I suppose."

"Oi, lovebirds! Get a room!" Yuri doesn't even have to turn away from Victor to know who's yelling at them. It is, of course, Yurio. He has practice at the same time as Victor, and must have come early.

Yuri glides away from Victor and acknowledges Yurio. "Hey." All he gets is a hand put up from where Yurio's putting on his skates, but Yuri knows that's a lot for him.

They've grown to be good friends. Yuri's fit with life in Russia better than he ever expected. Staying at Victor's place is fun, and convenient. Victor said Yuri didn't have to pay rent, as his presence was payment enough. Yuri shoved Victor and - while blushing - called him corny. Victor only laughed and twirled away, carrying a box full of Yuri's belongings. (At the bottom of that same box were all Yuri's posters of Victor. Minako really did like to mess with Yuri, and Victor's reaction to his collection was priceless.)

Victor has begun to skate, and Yuri realises he spaced out. Yuri shakes his head, black hair bobbing around his face, and focuses on Victor. He's skating slowly, but building up more speed as he finishes his lap around the perimeter of the rink. When Yuri least expects it, Victor very suddenly takes off and lands a quadruple toe loop. His arms are stretched out, but they are far from tense, and Victor's free leg is poised to perfection. Yuri sighs, realising how love sick he probably seems. He doesn't care, actually, he just loves watching Victor skate.

 _Easy_.

Victor skates to the side of the rink and inclines his head towards the ice, as of to say, ' _Your turn_.'

Yuri nods and pushes off his left foot. Gliding, Yuri picks up speed in preparation for the toe loop. He waits for it, and as he reaches the door, he takes off.

 _Flying_. _Weightless_. Gravity ceases to exist. Yuri's spinning, and spinning, _and there goes my fourth rotation, now to shift slightly and-_

Yuri's foot touches the ice and his other leg comes around to form a near perfect landing.

Victor claps. "Yes, very good! That was _perfect_ , Yuri!" From besides Victor comes a scoff.

"Sloppy, at best." Says Yurio, before pushing off the side and skating away. However, Yuri can see Yurio's smiling, and that means a, ' _Well done_ ,' in Yurio's books, so Yuri's happy.

Yuri and Victor spend the next ten minutes doing various quadruple jumps. It gets to Yuri's fifteenth jump, and Victor can see he's flagging.

"Okay Yuri, that's fine for today." Victor begins to skate towards Yuri.

There's _one_ jump Yuri really wants to do one last time. It's his favourite. It's got nothing to do with the fact that it's Victor Nikiforov's signature move. _Nothing_ _at_ _all_.

"Just let me do this _one_ jump, I'll be a minute." Yuri looks at Victor and smiles, despite his heavy breathing. It really would have to be Yuri's last jump, he was exhausted.

"Okay, let me watch." Victor's smile really could light up an entire city.

Yuri begins to skate around the rink, picking up momentum. He can feel the wind in his hair, and the breeze on his cheeks. The feelings are probably Yuri's favourite part about skating. The cool breeze, the ice beneath his skates. He loves every second of it.

Yuri's nearing the door. _Nearly, nearly..._

 _Now_!

Only, Yuri's takeoff is bad, and his weight's in the wrong place. His arms fly out to balance himself, but this is a bad idea because that just slows him down and now he's not doing the expected four rotations, and Yuri thinks that most of his rotations will be on the floor before he's falling.

His skate hits the ice at an angle and his ankle gives off a sickening _crunch_. Yuri falls onto his back and he only has time to yell out before pain is shooting through his head and the world turns black.

\------------------------

Yurio is slowly skating on one skate, practicing his balance and making sure the blades are sharp enough. He really doesn't want to have to sharpen them again; it's such a pain in the ass.

"Okay, let me watch." His concentration is broken by Victor's 'I'm in love' voice. Yurio sighs in annoyance.

It looks like Katsudon is doing one more jump before he leaves - that'd make sense, his practice time is nearly over.

Yurio mulls it over before skating to Victor. He might as well watch, because despite his attitude he does care for Yuri. Yurio likes him and Victor, they make a nice couple and they aren't annoying to the point where Yurio can't handle it. _Just about_ , anyway.

Yuri's nearing the door in front of which he normally takes off. Yurio watches his face scrunch up in concentration, meaning Katsudon is going to attempt a quad.

Yurio looks at Victor, watching his eyes shine with pride and - Yurio kind of wants to gag - love. Victor's eyes are intensely following Yuri's body as he glides across the ice.

Yurio hears a small 'clack' from where Yuri is and he knows that Yuri has began to jump. Yurio is still watching Victor's face, so it shocks him when Victor's expression morphs from one of love and pride to one of horror. The confusion only just settles in before Yurio hears a cracking sound. He whips his head around to look at Yuri and Yurio knows, within a second of seeing him, that Yuri is going down and he's going to hit his head.

Reflexes seem to kick into Victor and he's shot off before Yurio can react. Yurio can hear Victor yelling Yuri's name, and suddenly he too is going as fast as he can to reach Yuri in time. Yurio's skates cut through the ice and it takes only seconds before Yurio is by Yuri. Victor has already collapsed next to Yuri and pulled his fiancé's head onto his legs.

"Yuri! Yuri! Yuri, oh my _god_ , Yuri please, Yuri? Yuri!" Victor's sobbing, and Yurio thinks it's a slight over reaction until he sees the small pool of blood and his face pales. He throws himself to his knees and grabs Yuri's hand.

"Yuri, you asswipe, get up! Yuri!" Suddenly Yurio's vision blurs at the bottom of his line of sight and he finds himself hastily wiping the tears away. " _Yuri_!"

Victor turns to Yurio and shouts, "Go and get help!" Then Victor's looking at Yuri and the pool of blood and he sobs. Yurio doesn't have time to react to this as he's already skating towards the exit as fast as his skates will carry him. Yurio doesn't even stop to yank his skates off, he just _runs_ as fast as he can. Yakov or Mila or Georgi or _someone_ should be here by now, _please_ let someone be here, their practice time has started already! Yurio frantically runs to Yakov's office and all but breaks the door down.

Yakov is sitting in a chair but stands up as soon as Yurio enters. He looks startled and is visibly shocked as Yurio skids to a standstill, panting and eyes glazed with unshed tears.

Yurio speaks so fast he's not sure if Yakov can understand him. "Help - Yuri, he's hurt, like _blood_ hurt, he hit his head, help!" And then Yurio's turned and is running back to the rink, not even noticing his ankles complaining about the strain being put on them through his skating boots. Yurio can hear Yakov running behind him, panting. Yurio's running as fast as he can, and Yakov isn't getting any younger.

After what feels like an eternity, Yurio and Yakov arrive back at the ice rink. Yurio can just about see some of Victor's silver hair over the barrier. Yurio doesn't even waste any time, he just runs to the gate and slams his body through it. Yakov is quick to follow, and they both hurry over to where Victor is sitting, cradling Yuri's head in his arms.

Yurio once again falls to his knees and looks at Yuri, then Victor. "Anything happened?"

Victor looks up at Yurio, lips trembling. A slight shake of the head is all that's needed to bring tears back to Yurio's eyes.

"Oh my god, Katsudon, you idiot!" Yurio grabs Yuri's hand and squeezes it as tight as he can. "Wake the fuck up, asshole!"

Yakov has disappeared, presumably - hopefully - to get actual medical help. Yurio looks at the small puddle of blood on the ground by the door. Looking down at his skate, Yurio can see a small splattering of blood on the bottom of his right foot skate. He must have stepped in Katsudon's blood, but right now he's beyond caring.

Victor is crying, holding one hand over his mouth and the other holding Yuri's head on his lap. Victor's speaking, words blending into one and they're laced with _so much_ worry.

"Shit, shit! Yuri, _moya lyubov_ , please don't leave me, oh my god-" Another sob leaves Victor and suddenly Yurio is grabbing Victor's hand. Victor looks up and tries to smile at Yurio. It doesn't really work, but Yurio understands.

"Hey, Victor, Katsudon is going to be fine. He'll pull through for you, promise." Yurio looks at Victor while he's saying all of this, and Victor - rather shakily - replies,

"He'll pull through for you too." This time Yurio can't control his tears and they cloud his vision.

"You're a twat, Katsudon." Yurio mutters under his breath. Victor laughs slightly before he sees the blood again and all joy quickly leaves his features.

"In here." Yakov's voice brings the two out of their misery and they both quickly look up to see paramedics running through the door. It would almost be comical, the way that the paramedics nearly slip on the ice, but Yurio's too worried about Yuri and Victor to even notice.

The paramedics take Yuri from Victor's arms and Yurio's just glad Victor isn't _too_ out of it to cause a scene. Tears spill from Victor's unfocused eyes, clumping his lashes and tinting his cheeks red. Yurio squeezes their joined hands and prompts Victor to look at him.

"Katsudon's going to be fine. Promise." Victor nods and casts his eyes downwards. "Come on. We should pack up, leave a note for Mila, Lilia, Georgi, and the rest then go to hospital. Okay?" Victor doesn't move. Yurio sighs. "Listen, shithead, I know you're having a hard time, but _come on_. The faster we are, the faster you can get to Katsudon."

Victor slowly stands up, unsteady on his skates despite the many years he's spent on them, and cautiously follows Yurio to the rink door. The paramedics have left after briefly speaking to Yakov, who is waiting for Yurio and Victor by the entrance to the rink.

Yurio quickly takes his skates off, not bothering to untie the laces properly, and walks over to Yakov. "What'd they say?"

Yakov looks at Victor, who is very slowly and carefully untying his laces, and looks back to Yurio. "They're obviously going to call Yuri's family back in Japan, as they aren't sure how serious it is yet. Brain damage could have occurred, they just don't know-"

Yurio takes a sharp breath in. "Hold on- brain damage?! That's ridiculous, surely you just - just misheard them, or something? You can't be serious!" Yurio frantically searches his brain for medical terms that sound like 'brain damage.' _Nothing_.

"I'm sorry, Yura, but-"

"Sorry doesn't change anything, does it!" Yurio spins round and stalks over to Victor. Suddenly remembering Victor's unsteady state, Yurio reigns his anger in and slowly steps forward.

"Victor? Come on, we need to go." Yurio gently reminds Victor. Victor nods silently and stands, leaving his skates strewn on the floor. He walks past Yurio, a deathly pale colour, not saying anything. Yurio looks to his hands and they're shaking, trembling and Victor's holding one hand in the other to try and make the shaking subside but it's having no effect.

Yakov is holding the door open and Victor walks through, seemingly not mentally here. Yurio also passes through before stopping and taking a breath in.

" _Prosti_ , Yakov."

\-------------------------------

Victor is _bad_. The entire car journey, he's said nothing. He's only looking vacantly out of the window and occasionally letting tears slip down his face. Victor _doesn't_ not talk. He's always got something to say, even in hard times. When Yurio fell and broke his skate, when Mila's cat died, when Georgi lost his favourite eyeshadow palette (Yurio still doesn't understand why _that_ was a big deal, but hey) he could always come up with something to say. But now? He was silent, barely even moving. Yakov's hands were stiff on the wheel, nearly turning white. The silence was a tense as muscles after being overworked, as tense as Katsudon's face after practicing his jumps-

Oh, god, no, Yurio really doesn't want to think about Yuri, he's already tense enough as he _doesn't_ want to imagine what kind of things have happened to him.

_"They're obviously going to call Yuri's family back in Japan, as they aren't sure how serious it is yet. Brain damage could have occurred, they just don't know-"_

Yurio clamps his hands over his mouth as the horrifying reminder overcame his thoughts. Yurio didn't care about people, it just wasn't something he did easily, so it hurt more than _anything_ when someone he cared about immensely was put in danger. Yurio can't even imagine the pain Victor's feeling right now. Yurio knows for a fact Victor cares for Katsudon more than he cares for his own life.

Yakov gruffly announces they're at the hospital. Victor stiffly open the car door and begins to walk to the entrance, not even waiting for Yurio or Yakov. Yurio sighs and realises that for today, he's going to have to be the older one. Yurio has spent a lot of his life being around Victor, he _understands_ the man.

Jumping out of the car and sprinting towards Victor, Yurio stands in front of him and grabs Victor's wrists.

"Stop! You have to be calm, for Katsudon! You can't just go around being all closed off just because Yuri's in danger! _Get with it_ , Victor!" Yurio's grip on Victor's wrists gradually tightens as he speaks. Realising he may actually be cutting of Victor's blood flow, Yurio throws Victor's wrists aside and begins to stomp inside. "Are you coming, old man?"

Yurio feels a presence at his side. Victor hits Yurio's arm (lightly, as if he doesn't posses the strength to barely move it, but it's a start) and scoffs. "It's Yakov that's the old man, Yura."

Throwing aside his annoyance at the nickname, Yurio smiles softly at Victor and begins walking forward again. This time, Yurio knows Victor's following him diligently, and he feels at least slightly comforted knowing Victor is okay enough to interact with him.

The doors slide open to accommodate the three (Yakov has caught up with Yurio and Victor now) and with nerves in his stomach Yurio walks towards the front desk.

The receptionist seems not to notice them, and Yurio clears his throat loudly. Katsudon is in _danger_ , he does not have time for incompetent receptionists.

"Ah, hello, how may I help you?" Yurio wants to punch her cheerful smile right of her face, there is _someone he cares about_ somewhere in here and he _has_ to see them. However, Yurio realises anger won't help, and seeing Victor is (yet again) in no condition to speak, he pushes his fringe out of his eyes.

"We're here for Katsuki Yuri?" The receptionist nods and turns to her computer, already clicking away at what Yurio hopes is a register. Yurio looks around and suddenly realised Victor and Yakov have disappeared. Where the hell...?

Why would they just suddenly walk away? Yurio spins around, incredulous, before he sees Yakov and Victor sitting down. They're quietly conversing, and Victor's eyes have gone glassy again. Knowing when to join a conversation and when not to, Yurio turns around to face the receptionist again.

"I presume you mean Yuri Katsuki?" She's saying it in a way that screams, _I know more about him than you do_! And Yurio is now actually considering punching her.

"He's Japanese!" Yurio narrows his steely eyes at her.

"I... I'm sorry, I think I'm missing something? He's listen as Yuri Katsuki here-"

Yurio _does not_ want to fight with someone right now. "Yes, I know, just tell me where he is." Yurio drags his fingers through his hair. "Please."

The receptionist looks at him for another few seconds before curtly announcing, "He's on AICU, ward four bed 7. I'll send someone to show you the way now."

Yurio nods his head. "Thank you." He sighs again before glaring at her. He can't let this one go. "In Japan, surnames are given before first names. It's _polite_." Yurio spins on his heel, not waiting for her reply. He hears a short, muttered, "Last time I checked we aren't in Japan," but he cannot be bothered to set her straight.

He stalks towards Victor and Yakov, who are sitting in tense silence, and grabs them by the hands, letting go when both are standing. "Someone's coming to show us to Katsudon's room. He's on the adult intensive care unit."

Victor gasps and his eyes well up again. "Adult- adult intensive... intensive care- I don't, um- adult intensive care?" Somewhere through his sentence his voice cracks, but no answer to his plea can be given as the nurse appears at exactly the wrong time.

"Follow me, please. Yuri's this way."

Worry twists Yurio's stomach to knots unlike any he's ever felt before.

\-------------------------------

"He's in here. Yuri has some wires attached to his head and surrounding body, but please do not be alarmed. They are to help us monitor his progress. If anything goes wrong, or you need someone, then don't hesitate to press the big red button just by Yuri's IV drip. Feel free to go in." Victor already knows everything in the nurse's (probably practiced) speech. He just wants to see Yuri. His _fiancé_.

Victor can tell everyone's worried. Yurio has been angrily pacing, sometimes spitting out Russian curse words as they waited for the okay to go in. Yakov is weirdly quiet, his face blank of emotion.

Victor's thoughts tumble from one dark alley to another. Thoughts of Yuri not waking up, not remembering who he or Yurio or _anybody_ is, or being hurt in such a way he couldn't skate anymore clouded Victor's mind and brought tears to his eyes. He just _really_ wanted Yuri to be okay. The though of being without Yuri left a physical ache in Victor's chest. Victor _knows_ he couldn't handle it. Victor just knows that he and Yuri are connected in such a way that their souls are intertwined. Victor just _can't_ live without Yuri. He brings light to Victor's life. He shows Victor what living and loving are really like. Victor doesn't care about anything, he just wants Yuri to be okay.

 _I love Yuri more than life itself._ Victor would lose everything for Yuri. He'd stop skating, he'd give up all his achievements, because they meant _nothing_ without someone else being there to celebrate them. They all meant _nothing_ when compared to the warmth Yuri gave him.

"Vitya?" Yakov's voice pulls Victor from his slow descent into madness. "You should go first."

The air leaves Victor's body, and he feels as though his heart misses a few beats. (In fact, Victor's fairly certain it does.) "I... I don't know if I can."

Yurio snarls at him. "Yes, you can and you will. Get in there, shithead."

Normally, Yakov would scold Yurio for using what Lilia calls 'unattractive words," but Victor's not sure if he actually heard Yurio's short remark. The blonde stares Victor down until the latter slowly opens the door to Yuri's private room. Being famous comes with perks, Victor supposes.

Victor already knew he wasn't ready to see Yuri, but he didn't know he was _this_ not ready. Yuri has got wires and tubes everywhere (the nurse did warn him, didn't she?) and he looks paler than normal. His ankle is in some kind of cast, and Victor can hear the sickening crunch it made as Yuri hit the ice when he fell. Victor shudders at the memory.

Victor thinks back to Yurio's words, and draws strength from them. " _Stop! You have to be calm, for Katsudon! You can't just go around being all closed off just because Yuri's in danger! Get with it, Victor!_ "

Victor sighs and moves to Yuri's bedside. He takes one of Yuri's hands. It's cold, but not ice cold, so that's okay. Yurio pokes his head around the door, and Victor motions for Yurio to come in. No words are exchanged - none need to be. Yurio tells Yakov to go back to the rink, Mila's probably wondering where he is, and the other skaters need him. Victor promises to call if anything happens, and Yakov begrudgingly agrees. Soon, it is just Yurio and Victor, sitting side by side, staring at the same person. At some point or another, Yurio's head falls onto Victor's shoulder, and soon Yurio is asleep.

Victor understands. It must have been a long day for Yurio. It's been around three hours since Yuri initially fell. Still, no sign of him waking up. Victor wants to shout, or scream, or break something, but instead he just sits and watches the love of his life. Victor feels disjointed from reality, as if he is watching on from somewhere else. Time seems to move in an unfamiliar way, and Victor finds he has little or no control over his actions. Not that he does much, he just sits there and agonises over his love.

Victor falls asleep eventually, head rested on top of Yurio's, who still hasn't moved from Victor's shoulder. In his dreams, he sees Yuri skating, free, and he sees him jump, but then Yuri's falling and there's blood everywhere. It fills up the entire rink, it just won't stop coming, and Victor can't breathe. His feet seem tied to the ice, his skates weighing him down. Yuri isn't moving, and Victor tries all he can to get to Yuri, but nothing happens. Victor screams, but nothing changes. The blood makes his eyes sting, and he closes them, but suddenly they won't open. Victor is spiralling down, and all at once there is a hand on his shoulder and a head on his other and -

"Mr. Nikiforov?" A hand is placed on Victor's shoulder. Blearily, Victor opens his eyes, and waits for the sting of blood, but instead he is in a hospital room with Yurio's head on his shoulder and Yuri lying down with multiple tubes in him because he had to do _one more jump_.

"Mr. Nikiforov? I'm sorry sir, I just came to tell you we are taking Mr. Katsuki for a scan now. The scan is going to determine whether there has been any brain damage or not." The nurse speaks in a hushed tone, all too aware of the sleeping fifteen year old not two meters away from her. "I am afraid you are not permitted to come, however as soon as the scan finishes I will tell you the outcome."

Victor decides that is too much information to take in at this time in the morning, and nods. He feels empty, like a shell. It reminds Victor of the time before he met Yuri, when the only company he had was gold medals and Makkachin.

 _Shit_!

Victor nearly flies out of his chair, but manages to settle with a stutter of movement. He's completely forgotten about Makkachin, and _shit_ can he not do _one_ thing right today, when he remembers Yakov leaving. Victor knows Yakov will have taken care of Makkachin. He's done it plenty of times in the past.

Yurio begins to stir. He sits up and rubs at his neck, trying to ease the pain away from sleeping awkwardly. Yurio looks around the room, visibly bristling when he notices Yuri's bed has disappeared.

"Where the hell is Katsudon?" His voice is still sleepy, but Victor realises Yurio can be awake in seconds for those he cares about. "I swear to god, if anything has happened to him..." Yurio leaves his threat unfinished, but Victor has a pretty good idea of what he could do.

"Don't worry, he's gone for a scan to check his brain." Yurio is startled when Victor speaks, almost as if he forgot Victor was there. Victor, too, is surprised at how calm he sounds and feels. He knows he should be freaking out, he should be crying, asking questions, but he's past all that. The weight of the current situation pushes down on his chest, constricting his breathing and suddenly Victor's dream is coming back to him and _yep, here are the tears_. Victor can't feel, he can't see, he just _needs_ Yuri. Victor doesn't understand - Yuri doesn't deserve this, why did it happen? Why is his lover, his saver, his _everything_ , in trouble and pain?

The wheels of a bed can be heard from around the corner. Yurio stands at once, waiting for the door to open and for their fates to be revealed. Victor is too drained to even stand, but it suddenly feels as though his insides want to rip free from his stomach. Victor's vision begins to swim, but he focuses on the word 'Russia' on the back of Yurio's typical blue, white and red jumper. Victor carefully traces each letter with his eyes, and it doesn't really help, but Victor is fairly certain he can last just slightly longer to find out whether his life will be over or not.

It should be scary, really. Victor knows he should be feeling something, but he is too scared and he is feeling too much and Victor can't actually concentrate, let alone see or feel because the pain and the fear is so intense.

Yuri's bed comes into view, and the nurse turns to Victor and Yurio, and simply says,

"He's okay. His brain is working. He is okay."

Victor remembers letting out a sob before he crashes to the ground.

\-------------------------------

Yuri is discharged a week later, which is a miraculous recovery time for his injuries. In the end, Yuri is only dealing with a broken ankle. He had a minor concussion, but that was sorted at the hospital. Victor thanks any god that is listening that Yuri fell when he didn't have any major competitions coming up. He will miss practice time, for one can't skate with a broken ankle, but that's manageable.

Victor has felt what it is like to lose someone you can't. He's seen his personal hell, and he will forever be in fear of ever seeing it again. Victor has felt what it is like to half of your heart torn away, felt what it is like to have your soul thrown into a blender. He knows how it feels to see someone you need to live in danger of dying. He hates the feeling. Still, his nightmare haunts him, and Yuri often wakes up to Victor pulling him closer saying things like, "You can't leave," "I can't live without you," "Yuri, don't leave me, please." Each time, Yuri reassures Victor he is stuck with him, and Victor kisses Yuri like he won't get a chance to again and presses himself as close as it is physically possible to be to Yuri.

People were immensely happy that Yuri was fine, but Victor felt it was nothing compared to what he felt. Victor can now say he's been to hell and back, and it's not somewhere he ever wants to go again.

Yurio hits Yuri next time he sees him and yells at him for causing so much trouble. Yurio rants for a good minute to Yuri about what would have happened if he had seriously hurt himself. By the end of it, both Yuris have tears in their eyes and eventually Yurio just hugs Yuri while calling him a twat.

Yuri is practicing his quadruple salchow a few months later and falls onto his back. Within seconds, Victor is on the floor, blubbering to Yuri asking him if he can hear him and whether he is okay.

"Victor, I'm fine, I'll just have a bruise. Promise."

Victor lies down next to Yuri and hugs him so tightly Yuri feels as though it is becoming difficult to breathe.

"I swear, Yuri, my heart stopped beating for a moment there. I thought we'd have a repeat of what happened before, and I can't handle that. Please, never let that happen again." Victor pleads with Yuri. He just can't lose him.

"I promise I won't let that happen again, love. Don't worry. It's okay. I'm right here."

Minutes pass before Yuri thinks about getting off the cold ice.


End file.
